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Pine marten

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  • 01-07-2020 6:39pm
    #1
    rje66
    Registered Users Posts: 1,216 ✭✭✭


    One was sighted on our land close to farm . Cats and hens are missing. Happy to try to trap and release to other location. Is this a possibility?? Other options??


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    #2
    bmc58
    Registered Users Posts: 2,815 ✭✭✭bmc58


    rje66 wrote: »
    One was sighted on our land close to farm . Cats and hens are missing. Happy to try to trap and release to other location. Is this a possibility?? Other options??

    Leave them alone.They will keep the invasive Grey squirrel population down.Which is what we want.


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    #3
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,068 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    rje66 wrote: »
    One was sighted on our land close to farm . Cats and hens are missing. Happy to try to trap and release to other location. Is this a possibility?? Other options??

    Discuss the options with your local NPWS Ranger. In the meantime though, you might just have to up your defences!


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    #4
    tinofapples
    Registered Users Posts: 2,957 ✭✭✭tinofapples


    Was at the kitchen sink a few weeks ago, one of them calmly hopped through the driveway and off out the back of our house.


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    #5
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    rje66 wrote: »
    One was sighted on our land close to farm . Cats and hens are missing. Happy to try to trap and release to other location. Is this a possibility?? Other options??

    they don't attack cats do they??


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    #6
    bmc58
    Registered Users Posts: 2,815 ✭✭✭bmc58


    fryup wrote: »
    they don't attack cats do they??

    Certainly not.A cat is much bigger than them and would possibly even kill the Pine Martin.


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    #7
    bmc58
    Registered Users Posts: 2,815 ✭✭✭bmc58


    tinofapples wrote: »
    Was at the kitchen sink a few weeks ago, one of them calmly hopped through the driveway and off out the back of our house.

    Must have been lovely to see.Lovely animal.Many people have never seen a Pine Martin.Great to see it making a comeback in Ireland.


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    #8
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    bmc58 wrote: »
    Certainly not.A cat is much bigger than them and would possibly even kill the Pine Martin.

    about the same size wise i think, i'd reckon they'd avoid each other


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    #9
    Class MayDresser
    Closed Accounts Posts: 395 ✭✭Class MayDresser


    fryup wrote: »
    about the same size wise i think, i'd reckon they'd avoid each other

    Would have thought a pine marten would easily slay a cat.


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    #10
    Benny mcc
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭Benny mcc


    bmc58 wrote: »
    Certainly not.A cat is much bigger than them and would possibly even kill the Pine Martin.

    a cat is no match for a pine marten. where I am here in north Mayo it's becoming slowly infested with Marten and they are wiping out song birds and hunting ground nesting birds day and night.
    lovely animals but we don't need another preditor here


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    #11
    catrat12
    Registered Users Posts: 470 ✭✭catrat12


    Is this a pine marten


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    #12
    odyssey06
    Registered Users Posts: 28,341 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    Previous thread here suggests it is highly unlikely pine marten would dispose of a cat.
    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055961687

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



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    #13
    catrat12
    Registered Users Posts: 470 ✭✭catrat12


    Sorry think this will work


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    #14
    lucalux
    Registered Users Posts: 1,157 ✭✭✭lucalux


    catrat12 wrote: »
    Sorry think this will work

    Looks like a pine marten to me alright


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    #15
    catrat12
    Registered Users Posts: 470 ✭✭catrat12


    Sorry I know picture is awful but not bad if you zoom in

    Can’t believe I saw one in my garden delighted


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    #16
    Storm 10
    Registered Users Posts: 5,898 ✭✭✭Storm 10


    I rotated the picture and resized it might help


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    #17
    catrat12
    Registered Users Posts: 470 ✭✭catrat12


    Cheers
    It was massive as it bounced along much bigger than a cat real long too


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    #18
    _Brian
    Registered Users Posts: 18,508 ✭✭✭✭_Brian


    fryup wrote: »
    about the same size wise i think, i'd reckon they'd avoid each other

    Larger pine martins would be more substantial than a domestic cat and a significantly more impressive predator too.

    Would they eat a cat ?? Not sure, but if their usual food source isn’t abundant who knows. They certainly massacre chickens without remorse. Killing for the sake of killing rather than killing to eat. Have seen a whole pen of chickens killed overnight by one.


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    #19
    Storm 10
    Registered Users Posts: 5,898 ✭✭✭Storm 10


    catrat12 wrote: »
    Cheers
    It was massive as it bounced along much bigger than a cat real long too

    If you save the picture to your desktop the click on it and zoom in it looks like one ok


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    #20
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,577 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    _Brian wrote: »
    They certainly massacre chickens without remorse. Killing for the sake of killing rather than killing to eat.
    it's not a situation they'd have found themselves in, in the sense that on an evolutionary scale, they'd have evolved to react that when food is available, kill it or it will escape.
    'killing for the sake of it' is not the way i'd phrase it. they're not doing it for enjoyment.


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    #21
    catrat12
    Registered Users Posts: 470 ✭✭catrat12


    Wonder will I ever see the pine marten again in the garden don’t want to leave food out cause had rats before, plenty of rabbits around


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    #22
    deadlybuzzman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,874 ✭✭✭deadlybuzzman


    Benny mcc wrote: »
    a cat is no match for a pine marten. where I am here in north Mayo it's becoming slowly infested with Marten and they are wiping out song birds and hunting ground nesting birds day and night.
    lovely animals but we don't need another preditor here

    They're only coming back to their original habitat where they were until humans started killing them all.
    Native prey species numbers will drop then bounce back to their natural levels as they've evolved to live in the same environment as their predator species.
    Hopefully grey squirrels won't adapt and will continue get obliterated.
    Cats on the other hand have 24 very sharp ways to injure a pine marten, predators always go for the safest easiest meals so cats will be a long way down their list of all preferred prey


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    #23
    Benny mcc
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭Benny mcc


    deadlybuzzman wrote: »
    They're only coming back to their original habitat where they were until humans started killing them all.
    Native prey species numbers will drop then bounce back to their natural levels as they've evolved to live in the same environment as their predator species.
    Hopefully grey squirrels won't adapt and will continue get obliterated.
    Cats on the other hand have 24 very sharp ways to injure a pine marten, predators always go for the safest easiest meals so cats will be a long way down their list of all preferred prey

    Bounce back ?? have you had a look around lately ? nothing on this rock is bouncing back so introducing a high end predator at this stage is madness. If we had an abundance of whatever they eat and I assure you it's not fruit and nuts as some would have you think they may have a place here. Beautiful animal that hunts for food not fun . In a perfect world yes but not now! I see them and deal with them every two weeks or so and they are destructive to say the least and near impossible to keep out


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    #24
    mouldybiscuits
    Closed Accounts Posts: 94 ✭✭mouldybiscuits


    Benny mcc wrote: »
    Bounce back ?? have you had a look around lately ? nothing on this rock is bouncing back so introducing a high end predator at this stage is madness. If we had an abundance of whatever they eat and I assure you it's not fruit and nuts as some would have you think they may have a place here. Beautiful animal that hunts for food not fun . In a perfect world yes but not now! I see them and deal with them every two weeks or so and they are destructive to say the least and near impossible to keep out

    If the numbers don't bounce back we can just introduce a new predator or two to tackle the original one. Maybe arm a newly introduced species with a novel virus that will keep the numbers down to a more natural one.


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    #25
    Deagol
    Registered Users Posts: 1,703 ✭✭✭Deagol


    Benny mcc wrote: »
    a cat is no match for a pine marten. where I am here in north Mayo it's becoming slowly infested with Marten and they are wiping out song birds and hunting ground nesting birds day and night.
    lovely animals but we don't need another preditor here

    I think you'll find the 325,000 domestic cats in the country (which isn't a native creature to Ireland) kills far more song birds than the 2,700 native Pine Martens!


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    #26
    Benny mcc
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭Benny mcc


    deadlybuzzman wrote: »
    They're only coming back to their original habitat where they were until humans started killing them all.
    Native prey species numbers will drop then bounce back to their natural levels as they've evolved to live in the same environment as their predator species.
    Hopefully grey squirrels won't adapt and will continue get obliterated.
    Cats on the other hand have 24 very sharp ways to injure a pine marten, predators always go for the safest easiest meals so cats will be a long way down their list of all preferred prey

    Bounce back ?? have you had a look around lately ? nothing on this rock is bouncing back so introducing a high end predator at this stage is madness. If we had an abundance of whatever they eat and I assure you it's not fruit and nuts as some would have you think they may have a place here. Beautiful animal that hunts for food not fun . In a perfect world yes but not now! I see them and deal with them every two weeks or so and they are destructive to say the least and near impossible to keep out


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    #27
    Birdie Num Num
    Registered Users Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭Birdie Num Num


    Benny mcc wrote: »
    Bounce back ?? have you had a look around lately ? nothing on this rock is bouncing back so introducing a high end predator at this stage is madness. If we had an abundance of whatever they eat and I assure you it's not fruit and nuts as some would have you think they may have a place here. Beautiful animal that hunts for food not fun . In a perfect world yes but not now! I see them and deal with them every two weeks or so and they are destructive to say the least and near impossible to keep out

    Am I understanding correctly from your posts that you think the Pine Marten has been introduced to Ireland? They are a native species making a comeback in numbers in recent decades but still relatively rarely seen.


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    #28
    Kaybaykwah
    Registered Users Posts: 3,099 ✭✭✭Kaybaykwah


    If you ever catch one by the tail, hold onto the fur, it makes a nice watercolor brush.


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    #29
    Benny mcc
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭Benny mcc


    Deagol wrote: »
    I think you'll find the 325,000 domestic cats in the country (which isn't a native creature to Ireland) kills far more song birds than the 2,700 native Pine Martens!

    you're right on the cat story and every cat that shows up here won't get to leave. If I had a dog that I let come and go as it wants how would that work out. I've had cats get in and kill partridge here and who will replace them? cat owners think it's ok to let the little sweetheart out at night and do as it likes. 2700 ? Don t know who did the last count but they didn't come here or anywhere I know of to do it. I don't know the figures but I'd be thinking they're far higher than that. If forestry wasn't so widespread I think the marten numbers would be a bit more sustainable. they are a beautiful creature


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    #30
    Deagol
    Registered Users Posts: 1,703 ✭✭✭Deagol


    Benny mcc wrote: »
    you're right on the cat story and every cat that shows up here won't get to leave. If I had a dog that I let come and go as it wants how would that work out. I've had cats get in and kill partridge here and who will replace them? cat owners think it's ok to let the little sweetheart out at night and do as it likes. 2700 ? Don t know who did the last count but they didn't come here or anywhere I know of to do it. I don't know the figures but I'd be thinking they're far higher than that. If forestry wasn't so widespread I think the marten numbers would be a bit more sustainable. they are a beautiful creature

    Widespread forestry? You do know that Ireland is the least forested country in Europe??


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    #31
    Benny mcc
    Registered Users Posts: 158 ✭✭Benny mcc


    Birdie Num Num wrote: »
    Am I understanding correctly from your posts that you think the Pine Marten has been introduced to Ireland? They are a native species making a comeback in numbers in recent decades but still relatively rarely seen.

    Actually they were reintroduced up this side of the country (Mayo)and probably other parts. they do travel long distance too. look it up


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